Chapter 10.
Corporation.
Once Lulu and I, exploring unknown lands, found ourselves in a very distant kingdom, located at the very edge of the world.
We were walking towards evening. The weather was summer and warm, a light breeze was blowing. The path wound along the river, and around there was a huge expanse of steppes. All around was a serene beauty.
Moving slowly, I noticed a section in the distance between the sky and the earth, which did not let go of my gaze. Wherever I tried to look, my gaze kept returning to this place. The sight was incredible beauty.
There were alternating white clouds and pink reflections of the sunset. This place was undoubtedly unusual. White clouds were like the towers of the walls of a huge eastern city, in which there was a life.
I noticed this strange and bewitching phenomenon long time ago, the floating city moved as alive from day to day, sailing in different parts of the sunset.
We were on the way almost all day. It was necessary to look for a place to spend the night.
Small bushes grew along the banks of the small river, the trees were also low and sparse.
After passing some more time, in the distance, I noticed a rather tall and powerful tree. It clearly stood out from the rest. Lulu and I were unable to hug him together.
Most likely it was an elm.
Although the place was deserted and the inhabitants of the surrounding lands were rare guests, I felt a kind of cozy, inviting atmosphere around this place ..
- Beautiful, is not it? asked Lulu.
-Yes, it looks like we have found a place, where we stay for the night, I replied satisfied.
Down the slope, closer to the river, one could see impenetrable thickets of bushes and ivy. Something similar to a natural hut has formed in the bushes.
We decided the ideal place to sleep and began to unpack our simple belongings.
Gathered grass for bedding, laid out things.
We did not start a fire, because were very tired during the day. We had supper, what was left from lunch, and lay down without hind legs and instantly fell asleep.
We woke up from the fact, that a cloud of mosquitoes appeared near the water, and we were completely out of sleep. Crawling out of my hut, I noticed near a large tree, the very elm that we tried to grab in the evening, some kind of reflection of fire.
No, it seemed ... I thought.
And then Lulu noticed, too, and pointed in that direction with a trembling finger.
We were a little scared, you never know who it could be. In such a remote place, there is no place to wait for help.
After a while, curiosity got the better of me.
At first, Lulu flatly refused to walk, and in a semi-conscious state, she tried to sit on the ground all the time.
I told her to wait on the spot, and bent over in half, slowly moved to the fire. Already halfway, I noticed, that Lulu, apparently completely frightened alone, was also sneaking alongside. On the last stretch of the path, we began to crawl neatly.
Having got to a safe distance, we saw a small fire, on it a spit with a kettle with something boiling, probably tea.
Three figures were sitting around the fire. Their clothes were rather strange. Holding cups in their hands and blowing, they drank some very fragrant drink in silence. All that was heard was the sound of a warm wind and the crackling of embers in the fire.
Finally I heard a strange voice:
- Gradually, the System began to face a number of challenges and unresolved problems. There were more and more questions, that required an immediate response.
- Of course, in such a perfect organism everything is debugged by the Evolution itself ...
- But, due to its immensity, some sluggishness, it became unusually difficult to solve some overly complex tasks and secrets, and often simply the System found itself in a dead end.
- The idea came unexpectedly, as always.
- If the infinitely huge, noticeable, busy, no matter how perfect it was, could do its main business, then the infinitely small, endowed with the same functions, could perform some tasks much more efficiently.
- They could complement each other.
- No one knows for sure, who first came up with the idea of the infinitely huge, or infinitely small, most likely both at the same time.
- This is how the Corporation was born.
- It was born infinitely long ago, no one knows, where and by whom.
- Its principles, charter, were written for millennia, as they became, by its members themselves. But the main thing has always remained one. There is something of the Codex, that only they know.
- How they get there, and who, is also an absolute secret.
- Opportunities for Corporation members to achieve their goals are truly endless. Everything the System has at their disposal. All the secrets and knowledge accumulated over billions of years.
- They have an instant connection, space does not exist for them - they are always where necessary, all the boundless energy of the entire Universe can be concentrated in an instant at a single point.
“Incredible,” said one of the travelers.
- Yes, the second noticed, even the rumors about them themselves are extremely rare ..
Then there was silence again. Only dry branches crackled in the fire and sparks flew into the starry dumbness and the wind rustled swinging the branches.
Then one, as if waking up from deep thoughts, asked:
- By the way, how is the Astrologer doing?
- It has been a long time, since he was seen.
- The last time, I heard about him, he arranged the Winter Olympics on a full moon in the dense forests of one kingdom, pretty much frightening the locals.
- And why? asked the third.
- Yes, because he can not normally! He needs something new. Since then, the local inhabitants have not stepped foot in that forest for several years! Everyone giggled in unison.
Lulu and I, amid this friendly laughter of the pilgrims, slipped down to the river and hurried to hide in our hut.
Of course, there was no time for sleep, and we did not sleep a wink until the morning.
We dared to crawl out only when the sun had already risen high enough.
Carefully emerging from cover, we slowly walked towards the tree. From afar, I noticed, that where the travelers had been sitting at night, there was no one else.
Approaching the place where the remnants of the fire should have been, I was taken aback.
The place was completely untouched, no coals, no crushed grass, nothing.
- It can't be !! Lulu and I exchanged glances.
Then I remembered.
I remembered, that I had heard about unusual places, in which travelers from ancient times, from different corners, meet in their endless wanderings.
“This is one of those Crossroads,” I told Lulu.